Marines of the 2nd Marine Division model the service dress Bravos that will be worn on Fridays, as requested by the commandant, while 2nd Lt. Adam Flores, of Public Affairs, shows the normal camouflage uniforms worn on base at Camp Lejeune.

Chuck Beckley/The Daily News

By AMANDA WILCOX - Daily News Staff

Published: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 01:53 PM.

Marines from 2nd Marine Division on Camp Lejeune told The Daily News recently that the new service uniform requirement for Fridays has had little to no impact on their jobs.

Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, issued a Marine Corps-wide order earlier this month directing all non-deployed active duty and reserve Marines to wear their service uniforms every Friday starting Jan. 4.

“I like it,” said Sgt. Daniel Hanson, a technical control chief for 6th Marine Regiment. “It’s an opportunity to show off. Marines are all about pride and representing the service, so this is an opportunity for each of us to tell a story with our ribbons.”

Hanson, who spends most of his time behind a desk, said the new requirement has had no impact on his ability to do his job. If anything, Hanson said, he just looks better on Fridays.

While the service uniform is required on Fridays for all Marines who are not deployed or training in the field, exceptions can be made by unit commanders if the service uniform would negatively impact the Marines’ abilities to do their jobs.

For that reason, Gunnery Sgt. Jaren Wright, a motor transport operations chief, said the new requirement has not affected him or his Marines’ mission.

Marines from 2nd Marine Division on Camp Lejeune told The Daily News recently that the new service uniform requirement for Fridays has had little to no impact on their jobs.

Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, issued a Marine Corps-wide order earlier this month directing all non-deployed active duty and reserve Marines to wear their service uniforms every Friday starting Jan. 4.

“I like it,” said Sgt. Daniel Hanson, a technical control chief for 6th Marine Regiment. “It’s an opportunity to show off. Marines are all about pride and representing the service, so this is an opportunity for each of us to tell a story with our ribbons.”

Hanson, who spends most of his time behind a desk, said the new requirement has had no impact on his ability to do his job. If anything, Hanson said, he just looks better on Fridays.

While the service uniform is required on Fridays for all Marines who are not deployed or training in the field, exceptions can be made by unit commanders if the service uniform would negatively impact the Marines’ abilities to do their jobs.

For that reason, Gunnery Sgt. Jaren Wright, a motor transport operations chief, said the new requirement has not affected him or his Marines’ mission.

As a platoon sergeant for Marines who work on trucks all day, Wright said he asks his Marines to show up in their service bravos on Fridays so he can inspect them properly before having them switch back over to their normal camouflage uniforms.

“I can get a good look at them and then they can change back over into cammies and conduct their daily operations,” Wright said, adding that he personally enjoys wearing the uniform because he gets to “look good all day.”

Amos said in a statement recently that he wanted Marines to start wearing the service uniforms on Fridays because doing so was once a common practice throughout the Corps.

“Prior to 2001, it was common practice for Marines to wear the seasonal uniform while in garrison on Fridays,” Amos said in the statement. “My recent decision simply standardizes this practice throughout the Corps. Like physical fitness and personal appearance, Marines have always taken great pride in the wearing of our cloth.”

While Amos said wearing the service uniform is about pride, a senior enlisted leader advisor for Marine Forces Reserve said wearing the service uniform gives leaders like Wright an opportunity to evaluate their Marines for personal appearance, including weight management.

“Unlike the utility uniform, the service uniforms are form fitting, and this characteristic provides leaders with an opportunity to frequently evaluate the personal appearance for their Marines without inducing a work stoppage,” Sgt. Maj. Michael Sprague, senior enlisted advisor for Force Headquarters Group, Marine Forces Reserve, said in a press release.

The Marines are required to wear their Service B uniform, or bravos, from November to March and their Service C uniform, or Charlies, from April to October. The bravos consist of a khaki-colored, long-sleeve shirt and tie and olive drab trousers for men. Women wear a khaki-colored, long-sleeve shirt and can wear either the olive trousers or an olive skirt with panty hose and heels.

The Charlies are the same as the bravos, except the shirt is short-sleeved.

Cpl. Nicholas Pelepchan, a senior intelligence analyst, said getting to wear the service uniform on Fridays is all about a sense of pride, calling it a “reflection of who we are as the Marine Corps.”

“It allows us to show that we are a professional force,” Pelepchan said. “We can get down and dirty, but we also know how to look good and do our job well at the same time.”

Lance Cpl. Krystina Centner, a field wireman, said having to wear the service bravos on Fridays has actually helped her and her fellow Marines become better at their jobs.

“In the long run, it actually helps us a lot,” Centner said. “Every year we have a set amount of training we have to do, and with us being so busy all the time, (the new uniform requirement) lets us set apart Fridays so we can actually get done what we need to get done.”

Amos added in his statement that the elegance of the Marine Corps service uniforms is what sets Marines apart from other services.

“We are Marines, plain and simple,” he said. “Wearing our uniform with pride is what we do.”

Contact Daily News Military Reporter Amanda Wilcox at 910-219-8453 or amanda.wilcox@jdnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AWilcox21.